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What makes an animal suitable for domestication? I know it has something to do with the danger to productivity ratio. But this is not helpful for fantasy animals in the worlds we build. What factors or ratios can I use to help determine what fantasy animals are suitable for domestication?

Cyn
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TrEs-2b
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5 Answers5

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So, putting together all the excellent points made in other answers, I would say that any animal can be tamed and used in a symbiotic relationship with people. It is more likely to happen if it is harmless enough that the occasional bad behavior (panic or aggression related) can be tolerated. It might be that the animal is docile by nature, or it might be that it is small enough that it can't cause much damage.

Which animal will be domesticated, shaped over the generations, is decided by practical considerations: of how much value is a relationship with this species? Thus you might have things that are cute and cuddly "straight out of the box" being domesticated as companions. Animals with a strong sense of hierarchy (like canines) would be bred to be tools and helpmates. Food animals would be bred for their flesh and probably temperament. Each species would be bred to enhance and improve those characteristics which make it useful.

Why have we never domesticated tigers? Because they are dangerous and even the most gently raised of them has the potential for turned on its handlers. But what if the tiger was able to teleport not only itself but also anyone holding on to it. Would we have domesticated them? My guess would be yes. Even if their temperaments never improved much the value of instantaneous travel would be worth the occasional mauling.

Now, as an aside, that doesn't explain why the Egyptians put so much work into cats, but maybe, since all "house cats" are descended from a very small population in a very specific area (http://archaeology.about.com/od/domestications/qt/cat.htm) it might be that someone found a particular strain of feline that lent itself to domestication and they just took advantage of it.

Francine DeGrood Taylor
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    Cats had a very specific benefit pest control, when your civilization is dependent on large scale grain storage an animal that will hunt pests without fouling the grain is a big benefit. – John May 22 '18 at 14:49
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    "Now, as an aside, that doesn't explain why the Egyptians put so much work into cats" It's worth noting they didn't put any work into domesticating cats, cats (much like dogs before them) more or less domesticated themselves, they were attracted to the richer hunting of mice & other vermin attracted to grain stores which brought them into proximity with humans, from there it was simply a matter of natural selection, those cats people find more appealing are less likely to experience problems with people so can hunt & breed more successfully in close proximity to people, no great mystery. – Pelinore Feb 05 '19 at 18:31
  • @Pelinore Also (and likely far more important to the domestication process) was the fact that less aggressive/less fearful cats could live closer to humans without freaking THEMSELVES out. Cats that were too timid/scared/aggressive towards humans lived further away from them (less food), or ran when approached (reducing their time for hunting, wasting energy, and increasing stress). Eventually cats that weren't fussed about human presence were the norm. Same with dogs- its less that we were less scared of certain wolves, and more that certain wolves were less scared of us. – B.Kenobi Apr 13 '19 at 11:52
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    I would say teleportation would mean they were exterminated long before they could be domesticated, a large predator that can't be stopped by walls is a serious threat. – John Apr 13 '19 at 12:16
  • My God! Teleporting tigers? They would be the ultimate ambush predator! You have to be touching them to be teleported? So kids would constantly be jumping on the tiger and disappearing? Some would be eaten, some would just be abandoned in some random place! Hell no, they gotta go! – chiggsy Oct 16 '20 at 09:50
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If I Google for "what animals can be domesticated," the 3rd link is quite helpful, "Why Can't All Animals Be Domesticated? -LiveScience" (all of the first links are very helpful to you, but that one seems most well addressed to the exact wording of your question)

From that article, they identify 6 major characteristics of a domesticatable animal:

  • Cannot be picky eaters
  • Reach maturity quickly
  • Willing to breed in captivity
  • Docile by nature
  • Cannot have a strong tendency to panic and flee
  • Conform to a social hierarchy

There are counterarguments (the domestication of dogs from wolves lead some to question if "docile by nature" is a valid criteria), but it seems to be a reasonable start.

There is another theory going that the act of domestication is a particular neural crest deficiency that eventually occurs through the mutation process. Apparently it was noted since Darwin's time that domesticated mammals all show phenotypic characteristics of floppy ears, smaller teeth, and shorter snouts. It is now known that these traits occur as a result of changes in how the neural crest develops as a fetus. These changes also have brain effects, such as decreasing fight or flight responsiveness. Any fantasy creature which cannot, for some reason, undergo such a change would indicate that that species is harder to domesticate.

Cort Ammon
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    A few exceptions -> Reach maturity quickly : elephants - Docile by nature : cats - Tendency to panic and flee : rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs - social hierarchies : fishes (not entirely sure about this last one) – Babika Babaka Sep 23 '15 at 07:24
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    I can't say I found the article helpful. Elephants take 10 years to mature, which is quite long, yet they have been domesticated. Cats are not docile, even as pets. It is only the fact they are so small that saves us from injury from our pets. How many cat owners have never been scratched? Wild horses are as prone to panicking and flight as any other herbivore. And nobody who has ever owned a cat would delude themselves into thinking the cat considers itself part of any social hierarchy. Unless perhaps it is a monarchy :) – Francine DeGrood Taylor Sep 23 '15 at 18:30
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    @FrancineDeGroodTaylor *chuckles* "Is it only the fact that they are so small that saves us from injury from our pets?" Nah, in the case of cats, the fact that they are so small saves us from becoming domesticated by them! (at least... more domesticated than they've already bred us to be...)

    And yes, there are counterexamples. I think the real truth is that the question is an impossible one because its not a binary flag, domesticated or not. There's a range, and one can elect to draw a line somewhere.

     – Cort Ammon Sep 23 '15 at 19:21
  • @Cort Ammon Hehhe. Not even the size differential works for some. My kids call our youngest cat the "young prince" and he has them fetching and carrying and sneaking fresh milk and meat out of the fridge whenever my back is turned. He also used to get the dog to do all his dirty work and then just sat back and smirked when the dog got in trouble for it :) Ninety pounds of shepherd was putty in this eight pound kitty's paws... – Francine DeGrood Taylor Sep 23 '15 at 19:41
  • Excellent answer... and here is a funny video from CGP Grey that brings up all the points you wrote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOmjnioNulo – MichaelK May 04 '16 at 13:19
  • @BabikaBabaka taming is not domestication, elephants are not domesticated. – John May 22 '18 at 14:50
  • With regard to #5 (Cannot have a strong tendency to panic and flee) and even #6 (Conform to a social hierarchy) or #1 (Cannot be picky eaters ... has anyone ever seen a cat eat?), how does this apply to birds as pets (or any sort of pet kept in a cage, as in the fish someone mentioned)? Are they not considered "domesticatable?" Some cockatoos, parrots, and love birds might disagree. – Lisa Beck Apr 13 '19 at 01:50
  • @LisaBeck many of those are not considered domesticated. I can keep a pet snake in a cage, that does not make it domesticated. Cats are not picky they will eat basically any meat, individual spoiled pet cats are sometimes picky. – John Apr 13 '19 at 12:44
  • @John IDK what you mean by "not considered domesticated." Have you ever seen this list? If you can't link to it, it's got everything from pigs to mice, minks, hedgehogs, and even bees, but specifically regarding birds it lists the following: turkey, pigeon, goose, guinea fowl, dove, canary, and finch. Granted cockatoo, parrot, and love bird weren't part of the full on "domesticated" category, but splitting hairs w/me on that is kind of missing the point of my comment. NTL, TY4 pointing this out to me. I learned something new. – Lisa Beck Sep 05 '19 at 23:44
  • @LisaBeck for your first list accepting the hedgehog all of those are animals originally domesticated for food not pets and all of the domesticated animals fulfill all or most of those criteria. those birds on your second list aren't considered domesticated for a reason. Those animals don't have to fulfill those criteria becasue they are not domesticated. pet =/= domesticated. Read the list you willnot see many acceptionin the domesticated list. – John Sep 06 '19 at 00:10
  • @LisaBeck just look at the list to see my point, out of the domesticated species only 7 were domesticated as pets, and 4 of those are fish, those others are tiny and easily controlled by humans fulfilling #3 and making 4 and 6 irrelevant. and they fulfill the others. Yet many other small easily controlled animals are never domesticated because they, panic and die, won't breed, are too hard to feed, – John Sep 06 '19 at 00:25
  • @John I'll let you have the last word on this because after a nice meal and refreshing glass of wine, all of this strikes me as taking this discussion a bit too seriously. FTR, I've never claimed to be an expert on this issue of "domestication," and, somehow, I don't feel all that bad about it. NTL, TY4 engaging in discussion with me on this. Because of it, I'll be far less likely to voice my mind on this topic in the future and leave it for the experts. Best wishes to you and all aspects of "domestication" in whatever form they may take. – Lisa Beck Sep 19 '19 at 07:12
  • The criteria are definitely a starting point, not a last word. However, this discussion does bring up interesting points. I'm amused at the idea of domesticating fish on the logic that they can't have a strong tendency to panic and flee because you put them in a glass prison surrounded by noxious air with no clear path to the river or sea they came from where they could breathe freely. It's almost cheating, when we think about it that way! – Cort Ammon Sep 19 '19 at 15:14
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    That being said, horses don't really check any of the boxes and were still widely domesticated. – Hobbamok Dec 21 '23 at 16:02